/*
 *  Copyright (C) 2010 Interactive Media Management
 * 
 *  This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
 *  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
 *  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
 *  (at your option) any later version.
 * 
 *  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 *  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 *  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
 *  GNU General Public License for more details.
 * 
 *  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 *  along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 */
package dk.i2m.converge.core.plugin;

import java.util.Calendar;

/**
 * Interface for implementing a Converge {@link Plugin}.
 *
 * @author Allan Lykke Christensen
 */
public interface Plugin {

    /**
     * Gets a human readable name of the plug-in.
     *
     * @return Human readable name of the plug-in
     */
    String getName();

    /**
     * Gets a description of the plug-in.
     *
     * @return Description of the plug-in
     */
    String getDescription();

    /**
     * Gets the vendor of the plug-in.
     *
     * @return Vendor of the plug-in
     */
    String getVendor();

    /**
     * Gets the release date of the plug-in.
     *
     * @return Release date of the plug-in
     */
    Calendar getDate();

    /**
     * Gets the type of plug-in. This is provided by the abstract
     * implementations and should not be overridden by plug-in vendors.
     *
     * @return Type of plug-in
     */
    String getType();
}
